


Tomorrow Never Knows (Life is Real)

by SegaBarrett



Category: Phil Collins (Musician), Queen (Band), The Beatles (Band)
Genre: Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 11:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19722976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: Freddie and Phil travel back to 1980 on the 10th anniversary of John's death.





	Tomorrow Never Knows (Life is Real)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This didn't happen and I own no one.
> 
> TW: For references to John and Freddie's causes of death, though nothing graphic happens on screen. 
> 
> Also, some minor sexual references, cursing, and one anti-gay slur.

Freddie Mercury tapped his fingers against the table in front of him, humming quietly. The rest of the band was taking the day off, as Freddie had asked to take the day to spend with his friend Phil Collins, who was briefly in town before getting back on tour. 

After all, today was not a day to be alone. The calendar screamed out that today was December 8, 1990. How had it been ten years already since John Lennon had been killed?   
Freddie sighed. He could remember waking that morning to the news and scarcely being able to believe it, walking in a daze and grasping for something he could do or say, settling on adding Imagine to Queen’s setlist for the next three shows and looking over his shoulder in dark alleyways. 

Now, it had been ten years and Freddie was looking into the void himself, and it all seemed a little fruitless. 

There was a knock on the door and when he opened it, Phil appeared, all nervous smiles and awkward air drumming and questions about what they were going to do today. 

Anything, Freddie wanted to tell him, to stop time. 

They set themselves up at the piano and Freddie began to play anything and everything that came to mind, from Killer Queen to Another Day in Paradise to If I Only Had a Heart as Phil chimed in. 

“Let’s turn on the radio for inspiration,” Phil suggested, turning the dial. 

“A moment of silence,” the DJ said, “to mark the moment that John Lennon...” 

“Did you hear that?” Freddie asked, as a gust of wind seemed to come out of nowhere to crash into the window nearest to them. 

“A twister,” Phil mused, “Appropriate.” 

“It’s glowing!” 

Phil’s head turned and he too saw that Freddie was correct. There was a huge, glowing tornado headed directly for Garden Lodge. Freddie let out a yelp and Phil ducked beneath the desk, hands over his head. 

An earth-shattering crash! And the feeling of being lifted came next. 

Freddie must have blacked out, for the next thing he knew he was coming to on a patch of concrete, his body aching approximately 10% more than it usually did these days. 

Phil’s hand gripped his own and he was pulled up by the drummer. 

Freddie looked around and saw, to his surprise, the skyscrapers that clearly indicated New York City. 

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Phil,” Freddie mused. 

“This can’t be possible,” Phil agreed, “Maybe we were both knocked out and… somehow, we’re dreaming the same dream. Can that happen? Does that happen?”

Freddie shrugged.

“If we’re not in a dream, I think we need to go in and use someone’s phone. Otherwise, I’ll give poor Jim a heart attack when he looks and finds me disappeared.”

They began to make their way down the street, staring in wonder at the locale. 

Freddie stopped in his tracks, suddenly, and let out a gasp. 

“What is it?” Phil asked.

“The marquee. On that truck over there.” He was pointing at one of the ever-present food trucks parked off to the side of the upcoming street.

“What about it?”

“Look at the date.”

“December 8… that can’t be right. It says 1980. It must be broken.”

“It’s…”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know what today is.” Phil let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. “Well… ignoring the fact that this can’t be possible in the least… It’s still daylight…”

“So we have to get to the Upper West Side.”

“And say what exactly?”

“The truth?” Freddie suggested, throwing his hands in the air. “That he needs to be careful because someone’s got a bullet with his name on it?”

“Would you believe that if someone told that to you?”

“…Well, probably. I like to be cautious. Well, sometimes. Not in the bedroom.”

Phil gave him a sideways glance.

“You’re telling me more than I need to know, Freddie. You’re telling me more than I need to know… Let’s hop the subway.”

***

They took the B train uptown to 72nd Street station, finding themselves standing at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West. 

“This is so weird,” Freddie said, starting to shake a little bit. “I can’t believe we might meet John Lennon. Do I look okay?”

Phil cocked his head to the side.

“Considering everything… you look fine. The beard looks… uh, very handsome in a way that doesn’t make me gay at all.”

Freddie looked at him.

“I’m not sure any part of that filled me with confidence, but I suppose I’ll take what I can get under the circumstances.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and let out a long sigh. Could he really do this? Was it possible to save John Lennon? Freddie had never been a big sci-fi kind of guy, but he could remember Brian telling him about the rules of time travel. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about running into his past self – 1980 Freddie would be safely back in England, at least as far as Freddie could remember.

There was a long, black railing alongside the apartment building, with gargoyles manning the edges.

“The Dakota,” Freddie mused. 

“It’s a nice-looking place,” Phil said, “This is where he lives?”

A sound of footsteps interrupted their conversation, and they both turned. 

“Excuse me,” John Lennon said, tapping Phil on the shoulder. “I was just going to step on the…” He gestured to the sidewalk.

Freddie sucked in a breath.

“John Lennon!” he exclaimed.

John ogled at him.

“…Freddie Mercury?” He turned and rubbed his eyes, then took off his glasses. “And Phil Collins? What are the two of you doing here?”

“Well,” Phil began, “We came to see you, actually. We kind of… had something we needed to tell you. It’s very serious and very urgent and…”

“If it’s a collaboration, I don’t really collaborate. I mean, except for with Yoko.” John raised a hand to his sunglasses and tweaked the nose-guard.

“It’s not a collaboration,” Phil said. “It’s… well, it’s pretty life or death, to be honest.” Phil turned his head to look at Freddie before dragging a hand over his hair. “And, well, we… we’re…”

“We came from the future to save your life,” Freddie blurted. “…Well, you were taking too long, Phil. You should have just spit it out already.”

John took a step back, holding his hands up in a square shape, as if he was miming taking a photograph. 

“You’re from the future… to save my life.”

“I know you probably think we’re crazy,” Phil said.

“…Are you on LSD?” John inquired.

“No,” Phil and Freddie said at once.

“Okay, then I guess I’m open to this conversation. Tell me more. What am I in danger from?”

They exchanged looks.

“You might want to take a seat,” Freddie said.

“That bad, huh?” He cocked his head to the side. “Are you on a diet or something? Because you are super thin right now and your face is really pale and I think you should stop it.”

Freddie sucked in his cheek.

“I’m not on a diet. I have a weird immune disease that hasn’t been discovered yet.”

John seemed to accept this explanation.

“But more importantly than that, someone is out to kill you!”

“Out to kill me?” John crossed his arms one over the other. “But why? Who did I piss off this time?”

“Nobody, actually,” Phil explained.

“Yeah, he’s just a shitheel, you didn’t do anything to him,” Freddie said, “But we need to get you somewhere safe so we can stop you from getting shot by him…”

John reached up to rub his chin.

“But what if something disastrous happened from us altering the timeline?” he inquired.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Freddie asked. “Someone is after you!”

“From where?”

“What does it matter from where?”

“Where is he from?”

“I don’t know…” Freddie began.

“Hawaii, I think,” Phil supplied.

“Well, that’s it then. We go to Hawaii. He won’t think to look for us there,” John declared. He raised a finger in the air. “To Hawaii!”

***

“You can’t go to Hawaii.”

The three stared at the woman behind the airline counter in puzzlement.

“Why not?” Phil asked.

“Well, there’s only one flight left going out there today, and it’s already full.”

“Do you know who he is?” Freddie declared, gesturing to John.

The woman squinted.

“Aren’t you the guy who had the Kotex on his head?”

***

“So, new plan.” 

“What exactly is your new plan? Because the old plan could have been… better planned,” Freddie stated.

“Clearly, the universe doesn’t want me to subvert my own timeline,” John declared, clasping his hands together. “So we make today the best day ever.”

“You’re rather chipper, for someone who’s walking into his own death,” Phil mused.

“Well, it’s just like getting out of one car and then into another,” John replied. 

“How do you know, though?” Freddie asked.

“I mean, I assume.”

Phil shrugged his shoulders.

“So what do you consider the ‘best day ever’, I guess I should ask that?”

“Well, I’ll make sure to spend time with Yoko and Sean. Call Julian…” John paused, crossing his arms over his chest. “Call Paul, George, and Ringo. And then live the rest of it up. One last Lost Weekend, but with less alcohol.”

“This wasn’t what I was picturing when I woke up today,” Freddie said. “But, okay, I mean, I think I’ll take it. You make your phone calls, and then we hit the nightlife.”

“Are you sure that you’re up to it?” Phil asked. “I mean, no offense, but you’re not in the same level of health as you were the last time you stayed up partying all night.”

Freddie shrugged.

“I guess we’ll find out. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“That’s a dangerous question to ask, but I’m going to try to have faith in you.”

***

Freddie and Phil stood outside the Dakota, glancing around for signs of just about anything that could be meaningful.

“Maybe there is something we can change,” Phil said.

“He doesn’t seem open to it. I know I’ve read that he’s really into astrology and all of that kind of thing. Maybe he figures it’s not in the cards.” Freddie let out a sigh. “I guess I know a thing or too about trying to change the future.”

Phil turned his head towards him with concern.

“Freddie, you’ve still got time… don’t you?”

“It’s in pretty short supply these days, but yeah, I’ve got time.” Freddie rubbed his hands together. “I have to say, it’s kind of nice to be back before it hit the news and everyone got… ideas in their heads about it.”

“There’s a lot of judgment out there,” Phil agreed. “Everyone’s got an opinion.”

The sound of a footsteps in the courtyard led the two of them to turn their heads. John’s hands were at his sides, and he had a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, and seemed utterly unconcerned. Or maybe he just did a good job of projecting that.

“Hey,” he said to the two of them, nodding with a small smile. “So, where are we going to go first?”

“Well, your choice. You’re John Lennon, after all,” Phil said.

John reached up to pinch the skin on the bottom of his chin. 

“What if we went to one of your type of places, Freddie?”

Freddie turned his head and his jaw dropped a little.

“You want to go to a gay bar, Lennon?”

“Sure. Why not?” John shrugged. “What have I got to lose?”

***

“I think this suits me, honestly,” John said, throwing the rainbow boa that Freddie had procured around his shoulders. 

“I think it does, too,” Freddie said. He reached out and pressed a gentle squeeze to John’s hand. “Ready to head in?”

John looked up at him and smiled.

“Let’s do it.”

Freddie walked out behind him, walking side by side with Phil.

“Are you sure he’s okay? He seems kind of… resigned but also not really… comprehending? Maybe it hasn’t really hit him yet,” Phil suggested.

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” Freddie said. “I guess we just have to let him deal with it in his own way. And be supportive. We can’t push him to do whatever we would want him to do…”

“Hurry up, you guys. Do you want to dance or what?” John called back.

John had somehow found himself in a circle, dancing between three other men, one of whom was grabbing John’s hips. Freddie and Phil exchanged looks.

“I didn’t know he would like it so much!” Freddie exclaimed.

Phil, meanwhile, had turned around to find a man in a sequined leotard offering him a dance as well.

He paused, and shrugged.

“Why not?”

***

They had been dancing for about forty-five minutes when a man walked to the front of the club and picked up a microphone, feedback loudly screeching throughout the club. A few people groaned loudly in protest.

“Hi, everyone! You know what time it is – the big clock on the wall says that it’s time for karaoke! Who wants to come up and sing for us?”

Freddie, Phil, and John all exchanged looks.

“I couldn’t,” John said.

“You have to,” Freddie replied, “We have to.”

‘First, we have Bob, singing Love to Love You Baby!” the man up at the front declared.

Freddie covered his face and began to giggle.

“Oh, well, this will be good,” he said.

It was quickly apparently that Bob was both drunk and not knowledgeable of most of the words to the song. 

John gave him a slight thumbs-down at first but then, as he watched Bob drunkenly bob and weave and, eventually, grind against the floor, he changed it to a thumbs-up and then eventually began to clap.

“Let’s get on the list,” Phil said. Freddie shrugged and hopped up, not taking “no” for an answer. He returned a moment later and plopped back down.

“What are we going to sing?”

“A great hit of 1980,” Freddie replied.

“You’re being a little obvious about your whole from-the-future deal,” John complained. “Is there any good music in the future? What am I missing?”

Freddie shrugged.

“It’s kind of a mixed bag,” he replied, “But we’ll try and set you up with the highlights.” He leaned down and began to flip through the song choices. “This one, this one!” he exclaimed. They leaned in and both nodded, then walked back to their seats.

“Drinks, on me!” John declared, taking out his credit card and handing it to one of the waitstaff. “What are you drinking?”

“Gin and tonic,” Freddie said.

“A Jack and Coke,” Phil suggested.

“And I’ll take a Brandy Alexander,” John said.

“Just don’t put a Kotex on your head…” Phil mused.

John looked at him.

“It was one time, okay? I mean, you put one Kotex on your head and then that’s all they remember about you for the rest of your life. They’ll put it in my obituary.” He laughed nervously. “John Lennon. Lived. Put Kotex on head. Died.”

“All right – next up we have… does this say the Three Amigos? But Amigos is spelled wrong?” the announcer said.

“Yeah,” Freddie admitted. “That was me.”

“Singing ‘Fame’ by Irene Cara! Come on up, guys!”

They made their way up to the microphone, with Phil clicking his heels in an odd sort of way, Freddie almost running in place, and John sauntering up while playing with his sunglasses.

Freddie started to sing first, grabbing the microphone and nearly tossing it across the stage in his eagerness to get a hold of it. It had been a long time since he had performed live, whether this really counted as that or not. That had been 1987, the Barcelona concert that in some ways wasn’t, the tape running too slow, feeling like everyone was staring right at him and wondering what was wrong with him.

Here, the word wouldn’t be running through everyone’s mind. Not for another year, at least.

_“Baby, look at me  
And tell me what you see  
You ain't seen the best of me yet  
Give me time  
I'll make you forget the rest…”_

Give me time… there it was, the one thing Freddie had been severely lacking in. He had always felt that he’d have all the time in the world (or, maybe not, maybe he had always been running out the clock and didn’t realize it); now, every breath and every song was another second he would never get back again, another day when he might not be able to do any of it anymore. 

Phil craned his head in, smiling. Freddie considered him for a long moment. He could be quiet, likable, friendly… he was that “everyman” that could hang with every guy but not try to outshine them. Freddie wondered if Phil had any issues with Freddie’s… extra-curriculars. Could that be the reason they hadn’t hung out properly before this? And here they were, traveling in time. What a way to properly start off a friendship.

 _“I got more in me  
And you can set it free  
I can catch the moon in my hand  
Don't you know who I am,” _ Phil sang, laughing.

The three sang together:  
 _“Remember my name, fame  
I'm gonna live forever  
I'm gonna learn how to fly, high…”_

They began to pump their fists in the air, dancing, and rocking. Freddie let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. It had been a long time since he’d been able to do something like this, and he was sure it would probably take a lot out of him. That was, however, a problem for tomorrow-Freddie, 1991-Freddie. 1980-Freddie could still party if he wanted to, couldn’t he?

_“I feel it comin' together  
People will see me and cry, fame  
I'm gonna make it to heaven  
Light up the sky like a flame, fame  
I'm gonna live forever  
Baby, remember my name  
Remember, remember, remember, remember  
Remember, remember, remember, remember…”_

Freddie chuckled, playfully grabbing John around the middle. This was okay, right? Playing like he wasn’t worried at all about how this day would end. About how he wished that there was something he could do to change it – but the man didn’t want that. 

John sauntered up with a smirk, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. 

_“Baby, hold me tight  
'Cause you can make it right  
You can shoot me…”_ The pause was imperceptible, but it was there, before he smiled and shook his head, continuing:  
 _“…straight to the top  
Give me love and take all I got to give…”_

The rest of it went past in an odd blur: I’m gonna live forever. Freddie knew they weren’t, neither of them. Maybe Phil would, at least. 

***

John laughed, holding a drink in his hand still as they stepped out on to the street, arm in arm and smiling as if they really would live forever, together. 

Freddie was trying hard not to think about it, about any of it, because if it went through his mind too much he would probably start crying and just never stop. He couldn’t, wouldn’t cry about his own illness – that would be silly and melodramatic and not him, not one little bit – but John, cut down in his prime not due to bad luck of the draw with illness or accident but a pair of eyes taking aim and purposely shattering millions of hearts.

And it would happen, because it had to happen. 

“What are you thinking about?” Freddie blurted.

John smiled and crossed his arms.

“How weird all of this is. You’re both staring at me, by the way.”

“Because what if you can change it?” Phil asked.

“You think I haven’t thought about it? That knowing it’s coming, it might be easy to sidestep the bullet? Except… knowing it’s coming, I know that I can’t.” He crouched down, taking a seat on the curb. “If this happens, then what happens to Yoko and Sean? Julian? Where are they in ten years?”

“Julian’s a bit… bitter, but otherwise he’s fine,” Phil said. “He’s doing music of his own these days.”

“And Sean is getting bigger all the time. Smart as a whip. Elton’s been checking in on him,” Freddie explained. “He wants to do music, too.”

John smiled and rubbed at his face. 

“I wish I could get to see it… But it’s not in the cards, I guess. I didn’t want to be a dead hero.”

“But you are,” Phil said quietly, “A hero.”

***

They had made their way underground and were sitting on a nearly-deserted subway car on the B train. 

“I’ve never taken the subway before,” Freddie mused. 

“Common folk?” Phil teased. Freddie rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t have to, why would you need to?”

“Where to next, anyway?” Phil asked John. “I mean, it’s all in your court now, isn’t it?”

“I guess I’d better finish up in the studio, with Yoko,” John said as he rose from where they had been sitting. Freddie realized with a start that it must have been a few hours, now. He ran a hand through his hair. “And then…”

Freddie opened his mouth and wanted to tell him that it didn’t have to be. But maybe it was just, indeed, inevitable the way so many things were.  
Instead, he reached up and hugged him, tightly, blinking back the tears. It wouldn’t do to cry; he couldn’t do that to him.

“Freddie,” John said quietly when he pulled back, patting Phil’s back a moment as Phil hugged him too, then stepped away to look at him. “Your… immune thing. Is there a cure for it?”

Freddie shook his head with a sad smile.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of heels clicking against the subway car floor. A moment later, a woman who appeared to be around sixty years old plopped down next to Phil and looked at each of the men.

“Hey, I feel like I’ve seen you before,” she said, taking a look at Phil. “Do you ride this often?”

The three men exchanged looks.

“Uh, sometimes,” Phil managed.

“What’s your name?”

“Uh, Phil.”

“I’m Carol!” the woman declared, “It’s nice to meet you – I knew I saw you! Listen, I gotta tell you. I just got off the bus and some of those bitches are real petty, I tell you. Where are you going?”

“To the Dakota,” John cut in.

“Oooooh! The Dakota! Doesn’t John Lennon live up in there? Fancy!”

“He does, I’ve heard,” John said. Freddie covered his face to keep from bursting into giggles.

“You know what I heard about John Lennon?” the woman asked, lowering her voice conspiratorially, though a moment later she shouted, “I heard he’s an amazing lay!”  
John looked at her, taking a moment to nod thoughtfully and appear to chew on the statement for a moment.

“You know, I’ve heard that too.” 

“I’ve got a boyfriend though. Twenty years. He has a great…”

Phil coughed loudly to save them both from hearing the details. 

“I have a picture of him!”

Freddie hid his face behind Phil’s shirt.

“Not of his… I mean, of his face.”

She reached behind her pants and pulled a Polaroid photo out, showing it off. Phil dragged a hand over his face.

“Next stop, 72nd Street…”

“Sorry, we have to go…” John said, standing up.

“If you see him, tell him I’ll be in my bed, and spread out and waiting for him.”

“I’ll be sure to.”

As they stepped off the subway car, John pulled a face.

“What a last memory,” he said as they started up the steps. He sighed and looked back at them. “I’m off. I’ll miss… you both.”

“I think I’ll be seeing you soon,” Freddie said quietly, reaching out to hug him.

“We’re blocking the way,” John mumbled, rubbing at his face. “And Phil…” He hugged the drummer as well. “I remember when you were just a kid. Go and make me proud, okay?”

An old lady pushed by them, “Pansies!”

They all looked at each other and grinned.

“I’m offended,” Freddie declared. Then he sighed and squeezed John’s arm. “We’ll miss you.”

“I’d better go.”

John turned and walked up the steps; they heard him begin to sing, “She’s not a girl… who misses much…” before his voice flowed out of earshot.

“What now?” Phil asked.

“Now we wait.”

“For what?”

Freddie shrugged.

“What are we all waiting for?”

The ground began to shake, then, and Freddie wondered if it was the B train speeding by or something else, something that reflected the stirring, broken soul of the whole world that would keen in a few hours and every year thereafter.

It was hard to keep his eyes open. 

***

Freddie opened his eyes and found himself back in Garden Lodge, staring at the walls. His cheeks felt wet. 

“Freddie?” Phil’s voice called. 

Everything ached, which made sense. He hadn’t noticed his foot throbbing when they had been running around, but now it was back in earnest.

And John Lennon was dead, all over again, for the last ten years.

Phil appeared at the door, crouching down to sit beside Freddie as he let out a sigh.

“Freddie?” he asked again. “How are you… really, I mean?”

Freddie shook his head. 

“I don’t know how to answer that. What was that, that just happened?” He shrugged. “Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t know if I would even want to know.”

“He was very…” 

“He was John Lennon. In the flesh. And we lost him… All over again.”

Phil didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and so they just sat, listening, as the radio announcer called for a moment of silence and then played Imagine.

It felt very far away.

***

Winter could be strangely quiet; that was the one thing that Freddie had never liked about it. He needed to be surrounded by activity, by people. Everything else was dreadfully boring and he absolutely couldn’t waste a single second on things that were dreadfully boring.

At least, that was how it used to be. 

Now, he hadn’t left his bed in a few days. He was never alone, not really – always Joe or Phoebe or Jim to stay with him and keep him company. Half the time he was too tired to talk or even keep his eyes focused for longer than a minute or two, but that was fine.

Today, however, he felt a hand on his and he recognized that it was not Phoebe’s, nor was it Jim’s or Joe’s. 

Freddie looked up and sucked in a wondrous, awe-struck breath. 

“Hi, Freddie.”

“Hello,” Freddie managed. He held up his hand, and let out a tiny squeal of excitement as John Lennon took it.

“We have a lot to see,” John said. “Plenty.”


End file.
